Documenting the trials and tribulations of a lifelong journey of meditation, yoga, community and travel, on a frugal budget.

Category Archives: Random

Random blog update! I am just finishing a big one to be published soon, but right now I’m riding a musical high and feel like sharing what’s inspiring me now in the West coast music scene, with some of my favourite artists from Shambhala 2013. Bookmark this page for future reference, enjoy the music, and support these amazing artist at your local club or a nearby festival. Feel the vibes, man!

In no particular order, here are some highlights:

Stickybuds

Well, let’s start off with one of Shamb’s most favourite celebrities: The renowned Stickybuds, a Shambhala performer in his 9th year of attendance as a DJ. Let’s get real: Stickybuds’ 2011 set at the Fractal Forest was nothing short of legendary and his remix of “Clear Air Clean Country” has become an emblem of the elite funkmasters of Shambhala. It’s worth a listen for anyone who likes awesome stuff.

It must be tough to perform under the pressure of being the quinessential Fractal Forest headliner, but the dude was steadfast in his quest for sick lyrical hooks and tantalizing synthy bass loops. Enjoy his most recent set, already a huge soundcloud hit.

Sanctums

Funny enough, I totally missed this 2013 set. Actually, I didn’t even know the name until after Shambhala ended, as I was hitchhiking across BC back to the gulf islands. My chauffeur at that moment was a beautiful woman and kindred soul, with a subwoofer. We were grooving out to Sanctums as we drove over the hill into Osoyoos and into a mesmerizing sunset, a blissful calm after an intense festival. The mix below is an amazing Sanctums EP that captures our peaceful and alert mood as we drove through the Kootenays.

Logisticalone

Quite frankly, my favourite set of Shambhala 2013. There was a new stage this year – the Nebula. Little did I know it would become a central part of a all-night journey into sacred dance, energy movement and healing. (More on that in the upcoming blog.) Logisticalone was the curator of the amazing space, supplying his beautiful and evocative music to a dance floor of Conscious and intentional humans. He calls it Sacred Bass music on Soundcloud. Here’s that exact set, complete with a heart-detonating Radhe Govinda mantra climax…

Beatfarmer

This guy performed right after Logisticalone, continuing to do a strong and powerful job of holding the intentional space with that divine dance floor. The mix had more songs with pulsating bass and was a bit more driven, although still mystical and deep. This mix comes close to what his Shambhala 2013 set sounded like, but like all skilled DJ’s, every set is different.

Mat the Alien

You know, I have to admit: I only stayed around for 30m of his two hour (!) prime-time slot in the AMPitheater. It was the end of a long day with big emotional and physical work, and I couldn’t handle the constant onslaught of megabass hits. He’s an undeniably talented DJ with lightning fast mixing and incredible scratching skills, and plays a wide plethora of music depending on the atmosphere of the party. He also has the honour of being the first artist I listened to at my first Shamb in 2009. A lot of firsts, that night. His 2013 set isn’t up, but here’s a mix he made pre-Shamb to psyche everyone up:

And for a little bit of a wicked funky-gangster big beats banger, go to his releases section online and scroll down a bunch until you find POW ! Pt. 2 and check that mini-mix out. That’s an old-time favourite and worth a listen.

ill.Gates

I love this guy. He kills it, consistently and creatively. I was introduced to him as I stumbled upon one of his dozens of sets at Burning Man 2011. I love his huge bass hits and gangster lyrical overlays. His work with Die Antwoord has been amazing. He reads the crowd like a pro and delivers a unique mix of novel and trippy tracks. It sucks he hasn’t dropped his Shamb 2013 mix online — fingers crossed. His set this year was way to short, at only 60m… he had no choice but to keep things intense all the way until the last song. It really was a gem. But until that point, here’s a cool mix of his online.

The Librarian

I stumbled upon a new favourite artist at the Pagoda on Saturday evening. Downtempo, chilled dub with some divine feminine energy coursing through it all. She gets it. Deep, liquid, and simultaneously laid back and stimulating. This is sort of similar to her Shamb 2013 set, but of course different, as thing tend to be.

Westerley

Straight after The Librarian I walked right into what would end up being an epic set! What a great night at the Living Room. Westerley played a super rich set of classical, minimalist dubstep. Perfect for deep, flowing dance moves bordering on Qi Gong, as I was to discover. I feel like the Living Room just makes everything a bit better, as well. A clear river flowing by and the expansive sky above the beach to look up to. Life is good! Here’s his set from Basscoast 2013.

Definitely a lot of amazing artists this year. I’d love to write a bit about every performer I saw, but that might be a bit unrealistic. The above artists are what come to mind as the highlights of an unreal and beloved festival experience. I’m sure yours was different than mine – in fact, there’s a good chance that we may have seen completely different artists the whole time. Let me know your favourite sets of the festival and maybe I can see what I missed.